Nikki Haley, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, stood in front of a rusty hunk of metal Thursday and accused Iran of exporting weapons to rebels in Yemen, a violation of U.N. resolutions.
“The weapons might as well have ‘Made in Iran’ stickers on them,” Haley said. Behind her was a missile that provides “indisputable” proof, she said, that Iran is supplying Houthi rebels with weapons. The missile parts she showed off Thursday were recovered following a November 4 strike on an airport in Riyadh.
Haley described “Iranian missile fingerprints” on the missile and several other weapons that were on display, including an anti-tank missile and a “kamikaze drone.” She said the transfer of these weapons into the hands of Houthi rebels is a violation of U.N. resolution 2231, which bars Iran from the “supply, sale, or transfer of arms or related materiel.”
Iran’s “ballistic missile and advanced weapons are turning up in war zones across the region. It’s hard to find a conflict or a terrorist group in the Middle East that does not have Iran’s fingerprints all over it,” Haley said. The point of the press conference, she said, was to begin a public campaign that highlights Iran’s misdeeds. “You will see us build a coalition to really push back against Iran and what they’re doing,” she said.
In a statement, the Iranian government rejected the claim that it delivered the missile to the rebels. The so-called proof that Haley presented was “fabricated.” The statement went on: “The U.S. government has an agenda and is constantly at work to deceive the public into believing the cases they put together to advance it.”
